Product description

In his best-selling Strictly English Simon Heffer explained how to write and speak our language well. In Simply English he offers an entertaining and supremely useful A-Z guide to frequent errors, common misunderstandings and stylistic howlers. What is the difference between amend and emend, between imply and infer, and between uninterested and disinterested? When should one put owing to rather than due to? Why should the temptation to write actually, basically or at this moment in time always be strenuously resisted? How does one use an apostrophe correctly, ensure that one understands what alibi really means, and avoid the perils of the double negative? With articles on everything from punctuation to tabloid English to adverbs and adjectives, Simply English is the essential companion for anyone who cares about the language and wants to use it correctly.

Author information

Simon Heffer was born in 1960. He read English at Cambridge and took a PhD in modern history at that university. His previous books include: Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle, The Reinvention of England, Strictly English, A Short History of Power and High Minds: The Victorians and the Birth of Modern Britain. In a career of nearly thirty years in Fleet Street, he has written for and held senior positions on the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator.

Review quote

"Fascinating ... a trove of riveting facts." Daily Mail "It's a bracing read. Heffer takes no linguistic prisoners. This is a useful, well-constructed and often absorbing book." Spectator "Simply English is much more readable than a reference book has a right to be ... basically Simply English is rather good." Observer "Advice that will change for ever the way you use certain words." New Statesman "Easy to use and terribly hard to put down ... Essential." The Field